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Testing All Birds on the Premises: Present regulations for the official Mass- 

 achusetts pullorum grades require that all birds over five months of age be tested. 

 This requirement is based on the fact that the true status of a flock cannot be de- 

 termined unless all birds in the flock are tested, and applies to all breeding flocks 

 even though part of the flock may be used only for egg and meat production. 

 A small amount of infection in a flock can readily escape detection when it hap- 

 pens to be located in untested birds. It has sometimes happened that a single 

 infected bird has been detected in a flock of several hundred birds, and this 

 reactor was the last bird bled in the flock. When the infection is small, that does 

 not mean that it cannot increase in a mature flock. Testing results reveal that 

 pullorum infection in an adult flock is not static. Therefore if untested infected 

 birds exist on the premises, they represent a source of danger to the tested birds 

 that have been found free from the disease. 



Prevention of Pullorum Infection: To avoid pullorum infection involves many 

 disease prevention and sanitary measures. These measures have been listed in a 

 previous section of this bulletin. More strict adherence to these measures may 

 prevent difficulty and disappointment for some flock owners. Last season one 

 flock was found infected that had been negative for 14 consecutive years. The 

 flock owner reported that his birds were permitted direct contact with his niegh- 

 bor's birds of unknown pullorum-disease status. In another instance, an infected 

 bird, returned from an egg-laying contest, introduced infection into a flock that 

 had been negative for 15 years. There are other avenues of infection in addition 

 to the two mentioned which point out that the owner of a pullorum-free flock 

 should follow an effective disease prevention program. Especial attention is 

 called to this matter because under existing war conditions one is apt to ignore 

 the full significance and necessity of a sound prevention program. 



Official Recognition of Tested Flocks: The Massachusetts Department of Agri- 

 culture is the official state agency under the National Poultry Improvement 

 Plan. Two official pullorum-tested grades (Massachusetts U. S. Pullorum Passed 

 and Massachusetts U. S. Pullorum Clean) have been established. For complete 

 information regarding the requirements and application for these grades, in- 

 quiries should be sent to the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture, State 

 House, Boston. Flock owners whose flocks are eligible should not fail to 

 apply for official recognition. Lists of officially recognized flocks are published 

 and serve as a guide for buying pullorum-lree stock. Poultrymen are encouraged 

 to select from known free sources when new stock is introduced onto the premises. 



Cooperative Effort: In the past, the testing laboratory has received very fine 

 cooperation from flock owners. It has been the policy of the laboratory to render 

 high-quality service as economically as possible and to cooperate with the flock 

 owner to make the seivice of the greatest value to him. In view of the labor 

 scarcity and other restrictions which have resulted from the war, it is hoped that 

 the laboiatory and the flock owners will not encounter any problems which cannot 

 be met satisfactorily. 



